Ukrainian court puts off Tymoshenko appeal hearing

Supporters of jailed former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko take part in a rally near the court in Kiev, June 26, 2012. A Ukrainian court on Tuesday adjourned hearings to July 12 into former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko's appeal against the verdict and seven-year prison sentence handed down to her last October on abuse-of-office charges. [Photo/Agencies]

KIEV - The Ukrainian Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned again the hearing of last year's abuse-of-office conviction against jailed former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko until July 12, local media reported.

Presiding judge Stanislav Mischenko said that the court "needs information about Tymoshenko's health" to continue the hearings, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported.  On Monday, a court in the city of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine has postponed until July 10 further hearings in a separate trial of Tymoshenko for alleged tax evasion, citing her poor health.

According to the Ukrainian opposition, the hearings were deferred to a date after the Euro 2012 soccer championship to ease international pressure on the courts.

On May 15, the Ukrainian Supreme Court delayed hearings on an appeal by the former Prime Minister until June 26, because "Tymsohenko was unable to appear in court."

Tymoshenko, who is currently receiving medical treatment at an out-of-prison health center in Kharkov City, was convicted in Oct 2011 of abuse of power in a 2009 gas deal with Russia.

In April this year she was accused of embezzling an estimated $405 million and evading tax worth more than $87,000 in the 1990s.

Tymoshenko has denied all the charges, saying that she is innocent.